Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 137 My daughter has a really sharp tongue.
Lu Jia was truly rendered speechless by her father.

After returning home in his previous life, Lu Jie changed his excitement about the reunion the very next day and handed Lu Jia over to Jiang Shi. For a period of time afterward, the father and daughter did not have much opportunity to sit down and talk.

Lu Jia would sometimes approach him, but they would only exchange a few words before either Jiang Shi arrived or Lu Ying appeared and interrupted them.

The desire to be as close to her father as she was in her childhood has become a luxury.

Later on, Lu Jia gradually stopped going to such lengths.

Until her death, communication between father and daughter was limited to when necessary.

A father and daughter who have been estranged for a long time should feel somewhat awkward upon reunion. But the father's directness made Lu Jia suddenly feel that even the awkwardness was unnecessary.

She has experienced life and death, so there's no situation she can't be indifferent to.

He then said, "Your words sound like you're insulting me."

"You can't expect me to praise you, can you?" Lu Jie looked up. "Why did you run away when you saw me? Is your father some kind of scary ghost?"

“It’s not that shabby,” Lu Jia sighed. “It’s just that I’m just a country girl who has never seen a high-ranking official before. Even if you were my father, I would still be scared if you suddenly came over.”

Lu Jie snorted heavily.

Then he added, "You came to see me at Xia'er Tower that day, didn't you? You've been in Tanzhou Prefecture all these years, haven't you?"

Who takes care of you?

"Since you still remember your background, why did you only appear now? Why didn't you tell me who you were that day?"

"I thought, I really thought..."

These questions were all expected.

Just like in my past life, I still didn't ask the question that I should have asked most.

Lu Jia's tone was chilling: "Did you think I was really dead? Why don't you ask me how I got lost in the first place?"

Lu Jie said calmly, "It's already good enough that you can come back."

What do you mean?
If he can come back, then we don't need to worry about anything else?
Lu Jia finally couldn't help but roll her eyes.

I really don't know if he can truly let it go, or if he knows everything but just doesn't want to talk about it!

But Lu Jia doesn't want to pursue these matters anymore. Since her father isn't asking, what's the point of her daughter's nagging?
So she skipped the question and gave a brief but necessary explanation of her situation: "My adoptive parents' surname is Xie. They are grain merchants at Shawan Wharf in Tanzhou Prefecture. They have treated me as their own child all these years, but after my adoptive father passed away, my adoptive mother's family was bullied by relatives. Out of desperation, she brought me back to find my biological family."

She still wants to fight for this father.

Even if you have a lot of resentment in your heart, you still have to maintain good relationships, otherwise you'll be at odds with your future treatment.

"It really is Tanzhou."

Despite the sunlight, Lu Jie's eyes were quite dark.

"And then instead of going home, you went to the Cheng family?"

Before Lu Jia could understand what he meant, he asked again.

She coughed: "Because I dare not go back, I'm afraid you won't recognize me. But my uncle is still my uncle, he will definitely recognize me."

Lu Jie cast a look at me that I couldn't quite describe.

Lu Jia leaned closer and said, "Your wife didn't know you were here today, did she? If word gets back to her, she might blame you."
"You must be careful, she is the adopted daughter of Grand Secretary Yan, she has a noble status, and you can't afford to offend her."

"Why don't you go back first? Your daughter doesn't want to cause trouble for you two!"

Lu Jie glanced at her: "Eleven years have passed, and your tongue has become even more eloquent. Was it your uncle who instructed you, or was it your own idea?"

Lu Jia paused, then straightened her back. "It's because your daughter can't bear to see you caught in the middle, putting you in such an awkward position," Lu Jie scoffed.

Lu Jia continued, "Anyway, the Lu family has long considered me, their eldest daughter, as dead. It would be such bad luck for a dead person like me to go back and disturb your lives. Just let me fend for myself out there!"

Lu Jia put on a good show of being a victim, but Lu Jie didn't follow her script and kept pressing Cheng Wenhui: "Your uncle is a heartless and ungrateful man. He can turn his back on even his closest relatives. How could he suddenly come looking for you?"
Even if he finds you, given his bad temper, he might not even bother with you.

“I’ve known him since he was wearing open-crotch pants. Apart from you, I’ve really never seen many people who can lead him by the nose.”

Lu Jia said seriously, "My uncle is my mother's older brother and the only relative on my mother's side. He kindly found me, so why are you cursing him?"

Lu Jie let out another cold snort.

Then he grabbed Lu Jia's wrist: "Let's go home."

Lu Jia pulled her hand away: "I'm not going back!"

Lu Jie stopped in his tracks: "Your mother's memorial tablet is still in the Lu family ancestral hall. As her only daughter, if you don't go home, you are being unfilial."

Lu Jia gritted her teeth and rubbed her wrist: "You're amazing!"

They even brought out her mother, who had been dead for many years!

No wonder Guan Hengtong is so capable!
She glared at him: "I'll go back, but I have conditions!"

"Speak," Lu Jie said, putting his hands behind his back, "Do you want the moon or the stars?"

Pooh!
Lu Jia rolled her eyes: "Don't treat me like a child! I'm almost sixteen!"

"I have been away from home for many years, and the Lu family has changed beyond recognition. I have only lived in the Lu family for five years, but other people have lived there for more than ten years."

"I'm afraid that when I go back, even though it's my own home, I'll feel like I'm living under someone else's roof!"

Lu Jie frowned as he looked at her.

Lu Jia sighed: "Since you insist that I go back, I naturally cannot disobey you."

"However, now that the mistress of the Lu family is your second wife, and I will be your stepdaughter after I go back, and you will be in a position of great responsibility and busy with many affairs of state, I think you will naturally hand me over to her to manage."

"Since there are some things you don't want to know, then I don't have to tell you."

"But she is not my biological mother. Think about it, how uncomfortable would it be for me to be with her every day?"
"I'd rather not go back."

“I have very reliable attendants who handle everything perfectly. Or, you can promise me that I will take care of everything myself after I go back.”

"Either you handle everything for me personally."

In short, I don't want anyone to interfere in my affairs.

“I’m going home to be with my father and take care of him, not to make myself uncomfortable.”

She shook her arm, just like she did when she was a child.

Lu Jie looked at her for a moment, then relaxed his straight back: "If you have reliable people around you, you can manage yourself well."

"Thank you, Father! But there is one more thing." After expressing his gratitude, Lu Jia continued, "My adoptive mother and younger brother are already in the capital. My adoptive mother raised me for so many years, and I have a responsibility to support her."

"Now, in order to send me back to the capital, and because they are worried about me, they plan to stay temporarily in the capital, where they are unfamiliar with me."

"For both emotional and rational reasons, I must take good care of them."

"So even if I return to the Lu family, I will still have to see my mother frequently. You must promise me that you will not allow anyone to restrict my freedom."

Lu Jie asked in a low voice, "Is there anything else?"

Lu Jiamo paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Apart from that, I'll be content as long as Father can act impartially and without bias."